US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has lauded the Yemeni Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi, in preserving the truce that “has made a huge difference” in improving people’s lives.

 

Blinken met with Alimi on Monday ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York.

 

 

Alimi said he was “delighted” to meet with the US Secretary of State, stating their first meeting in Jeddah was “fruitful” and “very positive.”

 

 

“And today we look forward for this meeting to also result in positive outcomes and to enhance US-Yemeni relations, which are historic and strategic at all levels,” he added.

 

 

Blinken said he appreciated their meeting in Jeddah, and stressed that “the truce, whose effects are being felt throughout Yemen, has made a profound difference in improving people’s lives.”

 

 

He told Alimi that his “own leadership in working to sustain that truce has made a huge difference.”

 

 

“I hope now we can continue to work on it, to expand it through the efforts of the United Nations and produce a durable peace for all the people of Yemen. But in all of these efforts, your leadership has been vital, and we applaud it,” added Blinken.

 

 

“One of the things that we’re spending a lot of focus and time on here this week at High-Level Week at the UN is the challenge of food insecurity. As we’ve seen over the last years as a result of COVID, before that climate change, and more recently conflict, notably Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, profound food insecurity touch well over 200 million people on this planet, including, of course, in Yemen.”

 

 

“But one of the positive that we’ve seen with the agreement to allow the export of grains and food from Odesa in Ukraine has been improvement in food reaching people who need it, including one of the ships from the Black Sea going to Yemen.”

 

 

He added: “So it’s vital that we sustain this agreement, that the ships keep flowing, even as we work, of course, to end Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”

 

 

During his visit to New York, Alimi is expected to meet with world leaders on the sidelines of the General Assembly sessions.

 

 

The US, through its Yemen envoy, is exerting strong efforts along with the Yemeni government, the Arab Coalition led by Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, to extend the truce that expires end of next month.